Smoke and Mirrors
by BlondieSundae
Summary: A good magician uses smoke and mirrors to entrance and amaze, but this isn't about a magician. What happens when two devious thieves find themselves in the trust of the Tentei, but are abusing the trust, and worse, find themselves in love? HxOC KxOC
1. Smooth Criminal

Disclaimer- I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho , if i did I'd be a very happy girl. Enjoy. (I also don't own Smooth Criminal)

You've been hit by a smooth criminal~ Smooth Criminal

It was pretty close to midnight, the streets of Japan were void of people aside from the few who were leaving the Japanese rave scene or getting home from the late night shift. On the corner there was a television store, mostly old, used sets were set up for the display and they usually showed the news. One small TV flickered in the center, a decrepit model that fizzled on and off, seemed to try and hold its picture through an important news story.

Onscreen a lady sat at a news anchor desk as she reported the nightly news. Unfortunately due to the condition of the TV set you could only make out bits and pieces of the broadcast.

"We're reporting on the string of robberies…Police think the suspects might be armed…Homes in suburbs most likely to be targets…No new clues have been found…Police are investigating…This is channel six keeping you updated…Good Night."

'Gong! Gong! Gong!…' Somewhere a large grandfather clock chimed twelve fold announcing the witching hour. The clock in question belonged to a grand looking mansion, tucked away neatly in the mountainous backdrop of the Japanese countryside. 'Gong! Gong! Gong!…' The endless corridors fell silent. Perhaps even too silent. It was an ideal evening for supernatural happenings, as if the gods had blotted out the moon and stars from the sky. It was ominous to say the least. What's more, the hallways weren't as empty as they seemed…  
"Lotus, can you give me a readout on the next hall?" a voice from no where sounded.  
"I've hacked in to the security systems cameras. Yua make yourself visible so I can see your position. I've set a loop of the empty hallway so the guards won't see you." came another voice.

"Alright…if you say so." With these words a girl materialized, seemingly from thin air. Attached to her ear was a communication device, about the size and shape of a hearing aid, which the second voice was coming from.  
"There is no movement in the next hall, save for a few mice in the walls." the voice, known as Lotus, stated.

"Thanks, I'll get back to you when I get to the safe." Yua said.

Yua and Lotus were a pair of human thieves, never had they been caught while on the job. Lotus was the brains, Yua was the brawn. This didn't mean that Yua was an idiot and Lotus was helpless though, Yua's "gift" gave her an excellent ability to sneak in to establishments undetected and Lotus' knowledge of the latest technology made her useful behind a computer. Thus their partnership was cemented in this way, and the two young women had become had become the two largest criminals in Japan. The only problem was that none of the authorities knew what they looked like, this gave the duo freedom to terrorize Japan as they wished.

The girl's willowy figure proceeded to stalk through the hallways, creeping past motion sensors, alarms and camera's that were hidden. She managed to evade the traps with the help of her comrade who seemed to know every inch of the buildings blueprints. After passing through a laser maze with her acrobatic skill, she found herself in a small room with a large ornate grandfather clock. It's walls were bare, aside from wall sconces and the cobwebs that adorned them. When she looked up there was a large circular stained glass window, almost resembling the Rose Window of Notre Dame fame.

Pushing a lock of hair away she tapped the device on her ear and spoke quietly in to it, "Lotus, I'm in the room you said would have the safe, but I don't see one."

"That's because you don't know you're looking at it," answered Lotus sharply. Just as she said this Yua pulled a face to which Lotus immediately replied, "And don't make that face."

"How does she always know?" Yua thought.  
"Because I'm clairvoyant remember? Now look right across the room, see that Grandfather clock? I want you to open it's face." Lotus instructed.

It was no fluke that Lotus knew exactly what was going on over at Yua's end, she was indeed a psychic. However, much like her powers of invisibility, Lotus was limited to how much of the future she could actually see. The clearest she could force herself to see was perhaps a week at most, anything further than that became hazy. Lotus's power was also very spontaneous, giving her the ability to see random events in the far future very clearly, but this was a rare event and, strangely, only happens when she's drunk.

Like an obedient machine, Yua did as she was instructed. Once the clock's face swung open she peered in at the dust covered cogs. "Now what?" Yua asked, "I only see spiders."

"I'm getting to that." Lotus snapped, exasperated with her partner. "Find the mechanism that turns the hands. Once you have, I want you to turn the hands counter-clockwise until both have made it back to twelve. "

Again Yua obeyed, making sure that she followed Lotus' instructions exactly. Slowly, she cranked the hour hand towards twelve, making her body tremble with anticipation. Deftly wiping sweat from her brow she watched the hour hand crept closer to the minute hand, with a final click the hands overlapped and the bell sounded, it's cry echoing in the still nights air.

At the same time an alarm screeched through the air in Spirit World, causing all in it's range to rush about in a frenzied manner. Many of the ogres started to panic and shout for Koenma.

"Koenma sir!" The blue ogre, Jorge, ran through the halls calling out for the toddler. "Koenma, Koenma sir!" The ogre's large frame skidded to a halt in front of the pint-sized ruler. Jorge bent over, placing his hands on his knees as he panted heavily. "Ko-koen-m-ma sir, we have a pro-problem."  
The look on the child god's face was anything but pleased. One eyebrow cocked in irritation he continued to stamp and file the papers in front of him. It was such a tedious process, he wished he were on an island relaxing somewhere.

"Koenma sir! Are you even listening?"  
Once more his stupid ogre assistants voice pierced his daydreams. "What is it ogre?" he barked.

Jorge winced at Koenma's sudden outburst, but quickly regained his composure. "Koenma, the alarm…"  
"So what?" he snapped, "That damn thing goes off if a demon insect passes through the barrier. And if that's the case we'll just send Botan out with her can of bug spray."

"But sir! This is much more urgent than a creepy crawley!" Jorge insisted.  
Koenma sighed and rubbed his temples, "Alright, what's the reason for this damned alarm giving me a headache?"

Jorge said nothing, he merely fumbled for the remote that belonged to the large television screen that seemed to have omniscient powers. Pressing a few buttons the screen flickered to life and focused in on a a girl of average height, but of a petite build. She seemed to be turning the hands on the large grandfather clock that stood before her.

"You're showing me a girl…fixing her clock? Ogre have you truly lost your mind?!" Koenma shouted, his countenance screwing up with fury.

"Please don't hurt me sir! If you keep watching you'll see she's not fixing clocks or radios or any other electronic device." Jorge begged as he ducked to avoid the mallet which Koenma had been stamping papers with.

Settling back in to his seat with crossed arms, Koenma begrudgingly watched.

The chiming ceased and was followed by a grinding noise. Yua leapt backwards as the clock slid the left and revealed a safe. A grin stretched across Yua's face as she slowly reached out towards the numbered dial on the safe's front.  
Just as her fingers brushed the door Lotus' voice assaulted her ears through the speaker, "Yua don't! There are sensors on the safe's door!"

"Oops…" Her palm flat on the safe by now.

Sirens began blaring throughout the house, dogs barked viciously from outside and angry voices could be heard getting closer.

"You have literally three minutes to grab the goods and get out!" Lotus stated, the sound of fingers clicking across a keyboard could be heard. "There's no time to crack the safe, use force."

"With pleasure," she replied. From her pack of tools she had been carrying she produced a small, crowbar-like instrument. She jammed it between the hinges of the safe's door and pried the door open with a loud creak from the metal. After her destruction of the safe Yua snatched up its contents. That's when she got her first look at the item she and her partner were so intent on stealing. It was a diamond, about the size of her fist, perfectly cut in the traditional diamond shape. Yua held the precious crystal up to the faint light that filtered through the window overhead. The gem shone brightly in the pale moonlight, seeming to pulsate with an ethereal energy. The giddy grin upon her lips grew as she continued to stare at it.

"Yua!" Lotus screeched, "Get your skull out of the clouds and hurry!"

As if slapped Yua came back to herself. The footsteps could be heard, closer now, as the precious seconds she had left ticked past. Yua's thoughts raced as she tried to put together a hasty escape.

That's when the lightning bolt of realization struck her, hard. Remembering that she could become invisible faster than she could intake air, she let the power rush through her body. It was almost routine by now, the almost chilling sensation of disappearing and being hidden from the naked eye. It was almost like someone had doused her with a bucket of icy water, but without feeling soaked afterwards.

Another thought occurred to her though, what if the guards became too suspicious of her seemingly flawless escape? If they didn't believe she had escaped before they arrived they could bar the room and search for her, and while she was invisible she was most definitely still solid. Though she doubted the guards intelligence, she felt it wouldn't be wise to chance it. She guessed probably had about two minutes left of Lotus' estimated three, this guess was backed up by the sound of clamor growing nearer.

"Shit, shit, shit…" Yua thought as she absent mindedly hefting the crowbar in her hand, considering using it as a bludgeon.

Now Lotus was usually the brains of every operation, but that didn't mean Yua couldn't be crafty, she was raised by some pretty sneaky people. Having glanced up at the large and beautiful window it almost pained her to carry out her crudely fashioned plan, but it wouldn't rest heavy on her conscious for long.

Wasting no time, Yua curled her arm back like a seasoned baseball player and let the object in her hand fly as she swung her limb forward. The resulting sound was a crash of shattering glass that would have woken people for miles, were there any people nearby.

As the newly broken fragments clattered to the floor the voices became much more frantic.

"Did you hear that?'

"It sounded like someone breaking a window…"  
"Hurry and get to the safe room you imbecile!"

After a moments stand still, the heavy booted foot steps picked back up again. Yua pressed herself up against the wall next to the grandfather clock and held her breath, afraid that even the slightest sound would arouse suspicion. As if on cue, the door splintered apart and fell to the floor. A group of men filed in to the room anxiously, expecting to see a bumbling thief with their hand in the safe. Yua bit her tongue in order to avoid laughing, the expressions on their faces was a mixture of shock, confusion, and disbelief.

"What's the problem men?" boomed a voice, "You're trained security personnel and you can't find a simple thief?"

Yua almost snorted in disbelief, she had managed to evade _all_ of their poorly hidden "traps" (save the one she had tripped) and he dared to call her a _simple_ thief? Yua gritted her teeth and seethed, "We'll see who's the simple one…"

All the guards parted as a tall, muscular man with a walrus like mustache strode in with a fierce looking German Shepherd in tow. Almost immediately the dog seemed to growl and tug its chain in the direction of Yua, teeth bared as it tried to lunge towards her. His handler quickly took notice of the dogs strange behavior and smirked.

"It seems that Valko here has picked up something, perhaps he can find what you idiots can't," the man scoffed. After throwing a disdainful glance to his subordinates he commanded the dog, "Search, Valko!"

The dog immediately lunged for the spot Yua stood in, snarling viciously as she tried to flatten herself against the wall and away from the dogs gnashing teeth. The furrows in the dark haired man's face deepened as he frowned, flushing red as his comrades burst out laughing.

"Stupid mutt, you dare make a fool of me?" he hissed, kicking the dog in its haunch. The dog yelped as the boot connected with its body and limped away, whimpering in pain.

Witnessing the brutal treatment of the dog, Yua felt a pang of guilt. If it wasn't for her the poor creature wouldn't have to suffer. After throwing one last venomous stare to the man who inflicted the pain on the canine, she managed to slip out as the guards examined the crime scene.

Lotus huffed, her full lips formed a slight pout as she watched her partner descend the wall she had her back to.

"It's about time," she muttered, not so much as glancing at Yua as she approached.

"You could have told me that it was a trip safe…" Yua muttered.

"I tried to, but you're so impulsive. Always rushing in to things before I can stop you." Lotus snorted.

Unlike Yua who was built much like a ballerina, Lotus was stacked. While Yua had a boyish frame, Lotus' was obviously hourglass. While Yua's skin had a healthy rose tint and freckles, Lotus had skin of porcelain that was blemish free. What Yua lacked, Lotus had. They were as opposite as the sea and sky.

"Let's get out of hear before those meat headed guards wise up," Yua growled and flung the sack containing the jewel in Lotus' direction.

Lotus deftly caught it and pulled the gem out to examine it, "So this is the second one? They look almost identical, like twins."

"You mean triplets, there's still one more left," Yua smirked.

"Yes, we'll have to reunite these two with their siblings. Not tonight though, we'll wait until tomorrow…" Lotus' voice seemed to trail off as her eyes glazed over, Yua moved in closer. She recognized the face, it was the one she made when she was about to have a premonition. Within seconds Lotus' eyes switched back to their normal rose red only instead of immediately telling Yua what she saw, she held herself and shuddered.

"I didn't see much this time, it was more of a…feeling." Lotus' voice dropped to a whisper on the last note.

"It that all you got from the vision?" Yua asked.

"That and I felt we may be facing a strong opponent in the very near future, very near indeed." Yua cringed as Lotus' face darkened, she couldn't remember a time when the steely Lotus was bothered this much by a vision.

"Let's get out of here," Yua concluded, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Lotus just nodded and followed her partner in to the darkness where they would slip away, once again, unnoticed.

The tape went blank after the girl suspiciously disappeared from the feed.

"Hmm, Ogre it seems you were right. This is a problem," Koenma said thoughtfully, leaning back in to his chair, "Put Yusuke on the case immediately, have Botan gather them all and bring them here at once!"

"Yes sir, Koenma sir!" The ogre bowed several times before rushing off to places unknown.

"Mmm, Yusuke I have a feeling there's something more to this than thievery, I hope you're up to this challenge." Koenma thought.


	2. Fat Lip

Disclaimer- I don't Yu Yu Hakusho or the songs mentioned.

Don't count on me, is the point you're missing. Don't count on me, cuz I'm not listening.~ Fat Lip

Yusuke Urameshi, teenage spirit detective of spirit world, won countless battles against demons, came back from the dead twice, and now extremely pissed that Koenma was calling on him during his vacation!

"What does pacifier breath want now?" Yusuke grumbled.  
"Well aren't you a bright ball of sunshine!" Botan exclaimed.  
The trio, as Kuwabara was with them, strolled down the street, passing by shops, restaurants and, Yusuke's intended destination, the arcade. During their vacations, Yusuke and Kuwabara focused on one thing only, how badly one could be the other at any type of competition. Yesterday it was karaoke (much to the displeasure of everyone at the party) and today it was arcade games. Unfortunately, during their race (yet another chance to compete), they were greeted by Botan's cheery face. To Yusuke's "surprise" she was sent to recruit him and Kuwabara for another mission.

"How many times have I told that toddler tyrant to find someone else when I'm on vacation!" Yusuke scowled, kicking a can that had the misfortune to be in his path.

"Any other time he would Yusuke, but this is extremely important! The fate of the human world could be at stake."

"Isn't the human world ALWAYS at stake Botan?" Kuwabara chimed in.

"Eheh…good point." she said.

"Exactly, everything is so urgent with those Spirit World nitwits that they always have to call on us like we're their dogs," Yusuke snorted.

"Would you just honor Lord Koenma's request and obey his summons?" Botan asked haughtily.

"Forget it, me and Kuwabara have a date with destiny right now," Yusuke said, veering off to the arcade. Kuwabara lagged behind, torn between work and play.

"Koenma said you'd act this way, so he told me to resort to…PHASE TWO!" Botan exclaimed with a grin. Her hands dipped in to her pocket quickly, but not before Yusuke could protest.

Yusuke's eyebrow rose, "If you're going to try and pull that bribing shit on me again you'll have no luck Botan. I'm not falling for that bull again."

Botan's face took on the slyest of Cheshire cat grins, "But these aren't ANY old bribes," Botan whipped out a couple of envelopes with a flourish, "For Kuwabara we have front row tickets to see Megallica including backstage passes."

Kuwabara leapt up eagerly, letting it be known that the tickets were all he needed to join the mission with a loud whoop. Yusuke didn't seem all that impressed.

"And for you, Yusuke, we have tickets to see the upcoming martial arts tournament-"

Before she could continue Yusuke snorted, "I already HAVE tickets to that."

"But these ones are ringside!" Botan boasted, "You'll be able to see all the teeth that get knocked loose up close!"

Now Yusuke was a bit impressed, all he'd been able to afford were the crappy nose bleeders that only rowdy teens could afford. And knowing his luck the fighters would look like specks from that distance. Still, Yusuke would not yield.

"Tch, I don't need Koenma's fancy tickets." Although Yusuke spoke convincingly, his mind was screaming at him to swallow his pride and take the tickets.

"Did I forget to mention that these tickets also guarantee a meeting with your favorite fighters?"

The tickets vanished Botan's hands, leaving her empty handed and to grinning. Yusuke was bent over the tickets, clutching them tightly and rubbing them against his cheek. Kuwabara was just as, if not more, pleased, doing an odd victory dance and belting out his favorite Megallica tune. Needless to say, both caught odd glances from the strangers that passed by.

It wasn't long before they were standing before Koenma, who seemed to smirk, as he had just won the war of wills. With his connections it was almost child's play finding such good seats for both events.

"So it seems Botan was able to _convince _you boys in to coming?" Koenma continued to grin.

"Shove it pacifier breath." Yusuke grumbled. His back was hunched with his hands in his pockets, his posture showing his displeasure. "Where are Kurama and Hiei? Did you bribe them too?"

"Unlike you, Kurama was happy to extend his services. Hiei on the other hand, well, bribery doesn't work so I guess you could use the word coerced." Koenma explained, "They will be here momentarily."

"By momentarily I do hope you mean now," a voice from behind spoke.

Yusuke glanced over his shoulder while Kuwabara whirled around. Standing in the doorframe was the short fire demon and the crimson haired fox demon, the thieves known as Hiei and Kurama. Kuwabara seemed shocked at their sudden appearance, as all of them grew in power he found it increasingly difficult to sense their presence.

"What took you two so long?" asked Yusuke, Kuwabara was still recovering.

"We would have been much faster if Hiei hadn't put up such a fight in the first place." Kurama explained.  
The demon snorted angrily, "I wouldn't have protested if I didn't have to clean up Spirit Worlds messes constantly."

"Hiei, need I remind you that you're still on probation?" Koenma said quite plainly, causing the demon's eyes to narrow slightly. Hiei merely 'hned' in reply and settled himself at his usual spot next to the door, distancing himself from the group.

"Before you had both joined us I was about to tell Yusuke and Kuwabara why they were asked here. Now that you're all here it will save me some time." The prince shuffled some papers nervously before continuing, "It appears that there has been a series of break ins. The places are being specifically targeted because of the fact that they are the locations of three Hikaru Gems. There are three total and when combined they have enough power to destroy all three worlds."

"I do believe I've heard of the Hikaru Gems, but only in legend. Never did I believe they actually existed. There simply wasn't enough proof they were real," Kurama spoke up.  
Koenma nodded, "They are indeed real, and very dangerous. It is unclear whether the thieves know exactly what they are stealing or if they think they are ordinary gems of great value. My bet is on the latter because the only shred of information we could get was that the thieves are a pair of human women that can manipulate energy. Currently we only have a visual of one of the perpetrators, less is known about the second."

Koenma then picked up his almighty remote and pulled up the video from last night's robbery. The clip played from the point of her appearing in the room from nothing to the point she tricked security and managed to slip out unnoticed. Unfortunately, her face couldn't be seen for a good portion of the clip.

"Now, I'm pretty sure you all know what your mission is. Track down the thieves, capture them, retrieve the gems and bring the all back to Spirit World." Koenma stated.

"That's a splendid idea pacifier breath, but how are we supposed to catch them if we have absolutely no information on them!" Yusuke shouted.  
"We may not have much to go on about the thieves, but I do know where they are going to strike next. There are three gems and only two robberies, we suspect that it won't be long before they strike again. What I'm going to have you do is guard the next location and hopefully put an stop to this before it grows in to a dangerous situation."

"Whatever you say pipsqueak." Yusuke stretched his arms behind his head and yawned.  
"I'd say the sooner we get there the better," Kurama said, "When was the last break in?"

"A day and a half ago," Koenma said, "I think they won't wait long to strike again. I've opened up a portal for you that will bring you straight to the gems hiding place, there you'll meet the captain of the guards there and he'll fill you in."

"This'll be a piece of cake, we'll bring 'em back no problem." Yusuke said haughtily.

"While I have no doubt you won't have a problem with this mission I think you should still exercise caution, you have no idea what they are capable of." Koenma warned.  
"Yeah, yeah," Yusuke said as he headed for the door, "Let's go guys, we've got some work to do."


	3. Beer

Disclaimer- I own Lotus and Yua, not Yu Yu Hakusho. (I wish though) I also don't own these song lyrics.

"If I get drunk well I'll pass out on the floor now baby, you won't bother me no more. And if you're drinking well you know that you're my friend and I say, think i'll have myself a beer."~ Reel Big Fish, Beer

Yua and Lotus were busy celebrating in their kitchen. Lotus poured some alcohol in a glass and passed it to Yua, the latter already sporting the blush from three beers and a shot of tequila.

"We done gooooood Lotus," Yua slurred happily.

"Yes indeed," Lotus replied, knowing that trying to keep a conversation with an inebriated Yua was hopeless. She sipped at her own drink quietly, watching her partner pour another shot; Yua was on whiskey now.

Lotus simply smiled and set the recently acquired gem on the table next to its sister, both glowing ominously. The first seemed to pulsate with a deep blue energy, the second with a pale green. Each seemed to pulse in time with the other as if they shared a heartbeat.

"How much do you think we could fetch for these?" Yua asked, tracing a finger over the perfectly polished surface of the green jewel.

Lotus' scarlet eyes narrowed, "You know that these aren't for sale, _they_ would be furious."

Yua groaned, "They're not very charitable and you know it."

"Hold your tongue! You know for a fact they have ears and eyes everywhere." Lotus hissed."Yea whatever," Yua rolled her eyes, "Where's the next jewel hidden?"

Lotus calmed herself and continued to sip her cocktail. "Not far, it's in Osaka," she responded.

"Osaka? Then why the hell didn't we go there first?" Yua snapped.

Lotus gave an exasperated sigh, "Because, we didn't know of its location at the time."

Yua grunted slumped in her chair. "I think they're just trying to screw with us, send us all over creation for these damn things."

Lotus shook her head as Yua tossed away her glass and began to chug the hard liquor straight from its bottle. She had always been a bit of an alcoholic, and no matter how often she drank, she never seemed able to hold it well.

"Alright, let's get you to bed." Lotus said when she saw her partner begin to stumble. She took the bottle away.

"No!" Yua protested and reached for the bottle.

"I'm cutting you off," Lotus muttered. She poured the rest of the booze down the sink and fought off Yua with her free hand.

Yua opened her mouth to protest once more, but instead a sick look came over her face and she ran to the bathroom. The sounds of retching could be heard and then a low moan. Lotus only rolled her eyes; this was just the second stage of Yua's binge drinking, there were far worse moments to come.

After finally cleaning Yua up and putting her to bed, Lotus took to sitting at her window and staring at the stars; it wasn't often that she fell to these flights of whimsy but when she did she was often quite absorbed in her thoughts. She gazed up at the burning diamonds that seemed to gleam brighter than any jewel she had encountered. What a thing it would be if she could snatch the stars from the sky and keep them for herself. Nature's most valuable and unattainable treasure, hers. If only she could pull that off, she'd be the greatest thief in the world.

~~~~~~~~

At the same time the Tentei had arrived in Osaka. Kuwabara and Yusuke unceremoniously tumbled from the portal and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Kurama and Hiei followed, albeit more gracefully, and walked past the tangled up pair on the ground.

"Kuwabara get your arm out of my face!" Yusuke shouted

"Only if you get your knee out of my gut!" Kuwabara yelled back.

The pair squabbled on the ground for another five minutes until they heard a gruff voice clear its throat and say "I hope I'm not interrupting…"

Yusuke scrambled out from under Kuwabara and stood up, brushing the dust off of his jacket hastily. Kuwabara still lay in a heap on the ground and grumbling about how Yusuke was being a 'prick'.

The young man rolled his eyes, "I'll escort you inside to meet the captain."

Kuwabara finally stood and glared at Yusuke, who promptly ignored him, and followed the man. As Kuwabara passed Yusuke tripped him and walked over him after he fell to the ground.

"Urameshi, you jerk!" Kuwabara yelled after him.

Yusuke only continued on, flipping the bird at Kuwabara as he walked. Hiei rolled his eyes and muttered something about 'imbeciles' as he continued after Yusuke. Kurama helped

Kuwabara up and together they followed them in to the large mansion.

"You know, I don't see how anyone didn't think of stealing from a place like this in the first place," Yusuke commented.

"Indeed, it seems like a rather conspicuous place to hide a gem that could destroy all the worlds," Kurama agreed.

"We were trying to go for the 'hidden in plain sight' route." A voice spoke up.

The group turned and their gaze was met by that of a middle aged man with short graying hair, a beard and a jagged scar over his left cheek. He was dressed in a captain's attire with a  
sturdy pair of boots on his feet; it was a wonder he snuck up on them so easily.

"Captain, this is the backup sent by Koenma-" The guard started.

He was abruptly cut off by the Captain, "I know who they are private, you're dismissed."

The private looked offended by the sudden dismissal, but he quickly composed himself and bowed. He straightened up, rather stiffly, and walked out.

The Captain turned to Yusuke and bowed, "It is a pleasure to have the Spirit Detective here."

"I'd say good to be here, but honestly I only came because Koenma bribed me," Yusuke said with a grin.

The older man chuckled slightly and introduced himself, "Mr. Urameshi, I am Captain Yamagata."

"Koenma filled us in somewhat, are you gonna take us to the jewel safe already?"

"Follow me gentlemen," he said curtly.

The four followed him down a long maze of halls and corridors. As the travelled they noticed that the walls were decorated with valuable looking items. Every now and then Kuwabara would stop to take a closer look at them, leaning in closely and squinting at the items as if they were abstract paintings.

"I wouldn't lean in too closely if I were…" The captain warned.

His advice went unheeded and a loud alarm sounded as a net dropped down on the unfortunate teen. This resulted in a minor delay filled with yelling on Kuwabara's part, insults on Hiei's, and laughter on Yusuke's. Several minutes and an untangled Kuwabara later, they made their way to a simple looking room with nothing in it save for a bookcase.

"Is this it?" Yusuke asked with annoyance evident in his tone, "Where's the 'rare and valuable jewel'?"

Instead of answering, Captain Yamagata went over to the bookshelf and pulled out the sixth book from the left on the second shelf, a small book with gold lettering and leather binding, and waited.

After a moment's pause the sound of stone grinding on stone filled the air and the bookcase slid down into the floor. Behind the false bookcase there was a safe, after punching in a six digit code the door swung open. Captain Yamagata reached in and drew from it a red, diamond-like gem that pulsed with a powerful energy. Slowly he held it aloft and let the light filter through its brilliant facets.

"This, gentlemen, is one of the three Hikaru gems. When brought together they can cause unspeakable damage, enough to destroy all three worlds." As he spoke he shifted the gem to his free hand. "As you know the thieves you have been assigned to capture already have two."

The Captain placed the gem back in to its safe and stepped away to let the bookcase conceal it once more. "I'd like if you four would position yourselves around the perimeter of the building, one at each corner. Even if they do get past you, there's no way they can get out without tripping at least one sensor."

"Don't worry; we'll be sure to catch the fools before they even have a chance to trip an alarm." Hiei intoned suddenly. "I'll make sure of it."

~~~~~~

"Yua… Yua wake up." Lotus shook her partner gently, trying to rouse her. "Yua it's been a full day! You've been asleep since last night and its 9 'o' clock pm."

"Wuh? What're you talkin' 'bout? " Yua muttered, burying her face deep in to a pillow.

"It's Wednesday! We were planning on stealing the third gem tonight." Lotus huffed, placing her hands on her hips to show her annoyance.

"Awright, awright I'm up." Yua muttered. She rubbed her eyes and rolled off of the futon. She managed to drag herself to the bathroom and gave herself a quick hair brushing, splash of  
Listerine and a wet cloth to her face. The she was ready to go.

"If you hadn't drunk so much last night…" Lotus started.

"Whatever, let's just go." Yua said cutting her off before the lecture could start. She stormed off, sulking as she usually did during a hangover.

Lotus just took a deep breath and sighed as she thought, "Oh Yua…"


End file.
